The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2009-10

ENFORCE: NPDES WASTEWATER

MEASUREMENTS

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

During fiscal year 2009-2010 a significant number of Administrative Civil Liability actions were issued under the NPDES program in response to the 2008 MMP initiative. This large number of actions assessed a significant amount in penalty liability of which approximately 46% has thus far been resolved.  Of the liability amount thus far resolved, 25% contributed to approved compliance and supplemental environmental projects and 75% was collected as direct payments into the Cleanup and Abatement Account or into the Waste Discharge Permit Fund. It also significant to point out the large number of cases that remain in progress.

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

California law and the Water Boards enforcement policy establishes the circumstances for which violations must receive a penalty and in what amount.  In certain cases, the Water Boards have the discretion of imposing administrative civil liabilities after considering certain factors. For other types of violations, mandatory minimum penalties must be imposed and settlement conditions for those violations are also limited. The Regional Boards must consider whether the discharger should be allowed to satisfy some or all of the monetary assessment by completing or funding one or more compliance or supplemental environmental projects or by depositing the penalty amount in a specified fund.  Preparing each case for prosecution requires a significant amount of time and resources.  This measure describes a significant workload for the enforcement program.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Data Source: CIWQS.  Period July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Extracted on July 17, 2010.
• Unit of Measure: Number of enforcement actions and penalties assessed during FY 09-10 and the progress of those penalties.
• Data Definitions: Penalties Assessed: Amounts assessed in an ACL complaint or order. Penalties Resolved: Amount of penalties assessed that have been either paid or approved as a SEP.
• ACL report available at: http://ciwqs.waterboards.ca.gov/ciwqs/readOnly/aclReport.jsp
• Enforcement and compliance assurance information is available at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/enforcement/
• The Water Boards’ enforcement policy is also available at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/plans_policies/docs/wqep.doc
• State Water Board SEP Policy: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/enforcement/docs/rs2009_0013_sep_finalpolicy.pdf

GLOSSARY

Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP)

Supplemental environmental projects are defined as environmentally beneficial projects which a defendant/respondent agrees to undertake in settlement of an enforcement action, but which the defendant respondent is not otherwise legally required to perform. Environmentally beneficial means a SEP must improve, protect, or reduce risks to public health, of the environment at large. While in some cases a SEP may provide the alleged violator with certain benefits, there must be no doubt, that the project primarily benefits the public health or the environment

Compliance Project

A Compliance Project (CP) is a project designed to address problems related to the violation and bring the discharger back into compliance in a timely manner. CPs can only be considered where they are authorized by statute.  At this time, CPs are authorized by statute only in connection with MMPs if the POTW serves a small community with a financial hardship.

( Updated 9/20/11 )